[Springlands]

This is our first year growing apples and so far so good. We had good blossom which is now turning into embryonic fruit. I know about the June fall and have noticed it already but what I have also noticed is that there are some quite large clusters of fruit. If they grow to full size they would be very crowded.

Could someone please advise me what would be the optimal number of fruits in an individual cluster and when should I remove the extra fruits. Thank you.

[grinling]

you can clip some of them off, mine yet to do june drop. this will keep a nice amount of apples... if a lot one year then the tree takes a holiday (lot less apples) the next.

[stainesbloke]

I'd say 2 to a cluster so they get nice and big. Cut mine last week.

[Springlands]

Thank you for the replies - now I just have to persuade OH that it is necessary.  May not be an easy task - if I cut them back when he is not looking I can tell him it was the June drop. 

[solway cropper]

You might find that the June drop is in July this year!

[allotmentann]

Thank you for the replies - now I just have to persuade OH that it is necessary.  May not be an easy task - if I cut them back when he is not looking I can tell him it was the June drop. 

It might help to persuade your OH if he realises that you don't really lose anything by thinning. Bob Flowerdew always says that you end up with about the same weight of fruit, it is just that it is bigger and of better quality. You also avoid damage to the trees from branches broken by the strain of a heavy crop. Plus, as Grinling said, it means that you get fruit most years instead of one year on, one year off. Mr Flowerdew explained this by saying that it takes far more out of a tree to produce the seeds/pips etc, than to just plump up a fruit with water. So, a tree producing many small fruit will be more exhausted than one producing fewer, bigger fruit. This sounds pretty logical to me, so, hard as it is to remove fruit, I think it has to be worth it.

[Springlands]

Thank you Allotmentann - I think that it is important to get it right as this is the first year we have had the trees and we do not want to sap all their energy.

[Annen]

RHS knows how  http://apps.rhs.org.uk/advicesearch/Profile.aspx?pid=340

[Springlands]

Thank you Annen - that was very useful.